David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: “This is another example of an accident at work that has had the potential of harming local residents.

In major work accidents like fires and explosions at work, there is the risk to workers and also risk to local residents.”

Mr Urpeth represented over 75 workers and many residents who were injured in the 2001 at the Killingholme refinery when over 170 tonnes of liquid petroleum gas caught fire, the largest chemical disaster since Flixborough. Conoco-Phillips, who owned the plant, was eventually fined £1m for breaching health and safety regulations after the explosion at its Humber refinery.